The present invention relates generally to sensors, and more particularly, to a system for management of pressure being exerted on sensors in harsh environments.
Wells are being used currently to utilize resources available under the surface of the earth. Natural resources such as oils, minerals, and gases are obtained through these wells with the help of pumps and valve configurations. The pressure present in the wells enables natural resources to be pulled up to the surface of the earth from where the natural resources are transported to refineries or storage containers. Pump and valve configurations are also utilized in other systems such as desalination plants, wastewater management systems and the like. Since the equipment required to produce output from these systems are located deep under the surface of the earth, it becomes difficult to check their condition periodically. Sensors are placed alongside such equipment to monitor their health and provide well managers with adequate time to fix ill-functioning equipment.
Sensing systems are also deployed in systems such as separators, desalters, wastewater management systems, and oil quality control systems to analyze compositions of the fluid being extracted from under the surface of the earth. Further, flow meters are also installed in wells to analyze the flow dynamics of available resources. Chemicals are also injected into the wells to protect them from corrosion, and ill-effects caused by foam and other such materials. Injection of chemicals in wells is generally carried through chemical-injection management systems that are controlled using flow meters.
It has been observed that operating efficiency of sensing systems, such as flow meters, and solenoid-coil based sensors deteriorates with increase in operating temperature and pressure. Temperature effect on sensing systems is compensated with the use of insulation material in the sensing system vicinity.
However, for pressure compensation the use of isolation layers does not yield the same results. It has been observed that the response from sensing systems is affected in the presence of metallic absorption shields. To avoid the metallic shield to interfere with the response from sensing systems, sensing systems are wrapped in radio-frequency (RF) absorbing materials and shielded. However, RF absorbing materials that can be utilized in deep environments where the operating frequency is less than 10 MHz are not easily available.
Hence, there is a need for a system that compensates for pressure exerted on sensing systems deployed in harsh environments.